Chapter 327: Charity Match (1)

Zhang Fei, who was outside Football City, truly had no idea that such a group of people were competing for his attention out of jealousy. He wasn’t a player after all—he was the boss. Before the match, he was the busiest person, practically tinkering with this matter every day. Of course, this also made many major donors unhappy, as well as those merchants who did business with him.

They thought he was neglecting his proper duties.

Fan Li believed the law firm was the key, as it directly related to Zhang Fei’s core business—every transaction needed the protection of a well drafted contract.

But Hou Donglai thought the Authentic Books Store was the key. Currently, the most profitable and promising venture was their printing business. After all, the books hadn’t even begun selling yet, and that represented long-term profits.

However, what they didn’t know was that for Zhang Fei, the charity was the core of all his businesses.

Zhang Fei arrived fashionably late, just a quarter-hour before the match began.

As soon as he entered, Ma Tianhao urgently called him over, but from the women’s seating area above, Qingmei called out to him.

Between the two, Zhang Fei naturally chose Xu Zhiqian, since that was the women’s section, where she was.

However, he had only climbed a few steps when Emperor Zhao Xu’s attendant approached him.

Zhang Fei could only cast a reluctant glance at the women’s seating area before following the attendant to the VIP section.

Upon entering the pavilion, Zhang Fei put on an appearance of being deeply apprehensive and respectfully bowed to Emperor Zhao Xu and Grand Empress Dowager Cao, as if he had never seen such grandeur before.

After all, he and Emperor Zhao Xu had always maintained their “underground relationship,” with only a few people knowing about their connection.

Empress Dowager Cao had heard Zhang San’s name a lot—she was a fan of the News Gazette. Seeing him today, this young man was indeed handsome and talented, quite unlike the typical pen-in-cap image.

It showed that in any era, good-looking people always had better luck.

Because first impressions always left people with a favorable view.

Emperor Zhao Xu asked with apparent displeasure, “Zhang San, over the past year, quite a few court officials have recommended you for government service, yet you’ve repeatedly declined. Could it be that you don’t consider me a wise ruler and are unwilling to serve me loyally?”

Upon hearing this, both Wang Anshi and Sima Guang looked at Zhang Fei with schadenfreude.

You’re usually so arrogant that no one can persuade you—let’s see how you answer this time.

Zhang Fei hastily replied, “Of of course not! Actually, this commoner dreams of becoming an official, it’s just that… it’s just that…”

Zhao Xu asked, “Just what?”

Empress Dowager Cao was also quite curious—someone who would rather be a pen-in-cap than an official was truly rare!

Zhang Fei said, “This commoner is embarrassed to say.”

“Hmm?”

Zhao Xu’s brow furrowed.

The eunuch Lan Yuanzhen immediately said, “His Majesty is asking you a question, yet you dare not answer—are you tired of living?”

“No, no! It’s just…” Zhang Fei smiled bashfully, “It’s just that this commoner… this commoner is not yet married.”

“…?”

This answer left everyone present with confused expressions.

Zhang Fei explained, “Though this commoner hasn’t read many books, I do know about cultivating oneself, managing one’s family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world. Setting aside that this commoner still has the air of a commoner about him, the key issue is that though I’m not young anymore, I haven’t even established a family yet. I really have no face to enter court as an official.”

Gao Wenyin couldn’t be considered his wife—at most she could be counted as a concubine, which certainly didn’t count as establishing a family.

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang hadn’t expected this fellow to come up with such a reason and were quite disappointed. Was it really so difficult to watch this guy make a fool of himself?

Empress Dowager Cao nodded slightly. “Of the three forms of unfilial conduct, having no descendants is the worst”—in the eyes of the ancients, establishing a family was extremely important.

If you couldn’t even establish a family, what kind of official could you be?

If your whole clan were to be executed, there wouldn’t even be enough people to make up the numbers.

So Empress Dowager Cao actually helped Zhang Fei out of his predicament: “Your Majesty, we came here today to watch the match. Let’s leave this matter for later discussion.”

“Yes.”

Zhao Xu nodded, then asked Zhang Fei, “Zhang San, what are the particular features of this new-style football of yours?”

Zhang Fei immediately replied, “In response to Your Majesty, this commoner simply felt that current football lacks fighting spirit and passion—sometimes it’s quite boring to watch. Therefore… therefore I thought of this new-style football.”

“…?”

This single statement managed to anger everyone present.

They were all football enthusiasts.

If you can’t speak properly, then shut your mouth.

Emperor Zhao Xu asked, “Lacking fighting spirit?”

“Yes.”

Zhang Fei nodded and said, “Although it looks good when played, due to the lack of speed and physical contact, the action is severely insufficient. This commoner believes that men should play sports with some fighting spirit, while old football is more suitable for women to play.”

Emperor Zhao Xu’s eyes lit up as he listened. Well said—men should indeed play sports with some fighting spirit.

He was certainly not one to stay idle; he would definitely go to war.

These words were very much to his taste.

However, the scholar-officials present were all displeased.

What do you mean “more suitable for women to play”?

Who are you insulting?

Fan Zhen couldn’t help but angrily say, “What did you just say?”

Football was the national sport!

Zhang Fei hastily said, “My apologies, it’s also suitable for scholars to play.”

You might as well not have said anything.

Fan Zhen was so angry his beard bristled and his eyes glared. He was about to slam the table, but seeing all the important officials around him, he could only hold back his anger.

Wang Chao, Cao Ping, and other military generals felt slightly pleased inside, but didn’t dare show it.

Wang Anshi laughed heartily, “Interesting! Interesting! I’m becoming increasingly interested in this new-style football.”

Empress Dowager Cao glanced briefly at Wang Anshi, then said to Zhang Fei, “Zhang San, this isn’t fighting spirit—it’s barbarism.”

Fan Zhen quickly said, “The Empress Dowager speaks wisely. This fellow treats barbarism as entertainment—truly ignorant.”

Many scholar-officials nodded heavily in agreement.

Zhang Fei explained, “In response to the Empress Dowager, in this commoner’s understanding, collision without rules is considered barbarism, but collision with rules is fighting spirit.”

Emperor Zhao Xu gave Zhang Fei a warning look, “How dare you still argue back?”

Zhang Fei hastily said, “This commoner knows his error.”

Empress Dowager Cao’s impression of Zhang Fei diminished somewhat. The key point was that this “fighting spirit” didn’t attract her either, but she wouldn’t stoop to argue with a junior like Zhang Fei. “Let’s wait and see—exactly how does this new-style football demonstrate fighting spirit?”

Just then, a commotion arose from the field.

Everyone quickly looked down.

They saw that players from both sides had already entered the field, but were warming up on the pitch.

Emperor Zhao Xu wondered, “Why is this ball running on the ground?”

The rules of old football were somewhat like volleyball—the ball couldn’t touch the ground.

Zhang Fei said sheepishly, “In response to Your Majesty, if there’s to be physical contact, it’s impossible for the ball not to touch the ground.”

“That’s true enough.”

Emperor Zhao Xu nodded.

Empress Dowager Cao suddenly asked, “Is that person in front of the goal the goalkeeper?”

Zhang Fei was surprised, “The Empress Dowager has also read the News Gazette?”

“Ahem!”

Empress Dowager Cao nodded slightly, then said, “With so many people kicking, can one person defend it?”

Zhang Fei said, “Of course there are also defensive players to assist.”

Fan Zhen watched those players passing the ball around and couldn’t help but snort, “This doesn’t look like fighting spirit either!”

Zhang Fei smiled awkwardly, “This is still just the warm-up.”

“Sister Qian, is this how they’re going to play?”

A young girl affectionately leaned against Xu Zhiqian’s jade shoulder, pouting with a bored expression.

Xu Zhiqian blushed, “I told you it wouldn’t look good, but you all insisted on coming to watch. Don’t rush to leave later.”

After all, it was her fiancé’s invention—if it wasn’t entertaining, she would feel embarrassed too.

“If this is how they’re going to play, it’s really too boring.”

“Yes! They just pass it back and forth like that, and the ball can even roll on the ground—how simple. What’s interesting about watching this?”

On this point, the men and women in the venue reached a unanimous opinion.

The spectators watched them warm up, all with disappointed expressions.

How could the ball touch the ground?

There was no difficulty at all!

Hearing the complaints from the audience, Chen Maoxian shook his head and said, “I told you this new-style football wouldn’t work, but Zhang San wouldn’t listen. He even said we lacked vision. Look now—everyone is very disappointed.”

Fan Yong snorted, “This is fine too—it will crush Zhang San’s hopes.”

“Later we’ll still invest money in the movable type printing workshop, or we’ll go directly to other places to print newspapers—that will definitely make money.”

“Right, right, right!”

However, the players on the field were completely unaffected by these complaints. At this moment, both sides had only one thought: to humiliate their opponents.

After finishing their warm-up, both sides went back again.

This back and forth nearly made the spectators leave in anger.

Were they going to play or not?

After quite a while longer, the players from both sides finally entered the field officially.

Those dressed in blue and white uniforms were the Police Bureau team, while those in red and black uniforms were the Imperial Guard Cavalry team.

“Eh? Why are they each holding a child’s hand?”

Emperor Zhao Xu noticed that each player was holding a child’s hand and couldn’t help but ask curiously.

Zhang Fei quickly explained: “Your Majesty, it’s like this—these children were originally little beggars, and with each charity match, we donate a sum of money to these children from poor families. This ceremony symbolizes the meaning of charity.”

Empress Dowager Cao nodded approvingly: “That’s quite thoughtful. Very good, very good.”

Emperor Zhao Xu suddenly asked again: “What are Dong’er and that man doing?”

Empress Dowager Cao took the initiative to explain: “Your Majesty may not know, but they’re flipping copper coins, guessing heads or tails. The winner gets to choose sides, and the losing side gets possession of the ball.”

Zhang Fei looked at Empress Dowager Cao with slight surprise.

The old lady had quite a good memory.

While they were chatting, the coin toss on the field had already finished. Judging by the referee’s gesture, the Imperial Guard Cavalry team had won, and they chose the western side as their territory.

The western side faced the main gate where there were fewer spectators, while the eastern side had more spectators. Everyone wanted more people to witness their goals!

With the sound of gongs and drums, the match was finally about to begin.

If it didn’t start soon, the spectators would all fall asleep.

Both sides deployed a 4-3-3 attacking formation.

Actually, Zhang Fei had told them about all the formations, and since Song Dynasty traditional warfare involved arranging troops in formations, these people had an astonishing ability to comprehend tactical arrangements and quickly learned how to play.

Originally, Zhang Fei had suggested that Cao Dongdong use a 5-3-2 formation, since their overall strength was weaker, and Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi were both relatively strong players.

But Cao Dongdong rejected this suggestion, claiming Zhang Fei didn’t understand soccer, and arbitrarily decided to place Ma Xiaoyi as a forward while he himself played midfield.

This made Zhang Fei unwilling to provide private coaching anymore.

As the referee raised his right hand high, the match officially began.

There wasn’t a sound in the stadium.

Everyone was already very disappointed.

Then Cao Dongdong received the ball and made a pass with his teammate, performed some juggling moves to get past an opponent, and then the ball rushed quickly toward the opposing goal.

It had to be said that old football players transitioning to new football really played dribbling and getting past opponents with flair—Cao Dongdong had just performed a rainbow flick.

This move did catch the spectators’ attention, since these spectators were still accustomed to watching fancy techniques.

“Go, go, go!”

Cao Ping saw his son dribbling toward the opposing goal and couldn’t help getting excited.

Wang Chao stood up: “Stop him! Stop him!”

Emperor Zhao Xu, Empress Dowager Cao, and the various civil officials looked at these two men with mixed feelings of amusement and exasperation.

Then came a cry of alarm!

An opposing player made a direct sliding tackle, taking both ball and player, sending Cao Dongdong flying through the air in a somersault before crashing heavily to the ground.

Empress Dowager Cao’s heart skipped a beat—was this playing soccer or attempted murder?

Wang Chao shouted loudly: “Beautiful tackle!”

But Cao Ping was dissatisfied and yelled at Zhang Fei: “They’re kicking Dong’er like that—isn’t that a foul?”

Zhang Fei replied: “According to the rules, the opponent went for the ball and touched the ball first, so it’s not a foul.”

Suddenly, thunderous cheering erupted from the stadium.

It turned out that after the Imperial Guard Cavalry intercepted the ball, the entire team immediately pushed forward. Once this speed picked up, the visual impact stimulated everyone’s adrenaline.

Moreover, most people supported the Imperial Guard Cavalry—they were now beginning to miss the former military patrols, and crucially, many people had bet on the Imperial Guard Cavalry.

Empress Dowager Cao and Emperor Zhao Xu also inexplicably became tense.

“Charge, charge, charge!”

Wang Chao raised both hands high, shouting excitedly.

A Imperial Guard midfielder took a powerful shot from outside the penalty area that grazed the goalpost and went out.

The stadium immediately erupted in disappointed groans.

Wang Chao clutched his head and let out a wail.

In the women’s section:

“Oh! What a pity!”

The young lady who had been leaning against Xu Zhiqian earlier was now standing at the front, also looking disappointed.

Xu Zhiqian was dumbfounded: “Little sister, didn’t you say you didn’t like watching?”

“I…!”

Little sister looked around—how did I end up at the front?

Who am I?

Where am I?